Atarashii no Koi
by Eldan Aranye
Summary: Will their trip to the onsen spark a new romance for one orange-haired young lady? Or would their actions just be fodder for the mangaka? Probably the latter. Or maybe...it could be both. [This is a rehash of my first GSN story Atarashii no Koi (now titled AnK: Zero).]
1. We're Gonna Go to an Onsen!

**A/N:** I don't know what got into me, but here I am with a rehash of my story. This time around I'll make sure to finish it, no matter what and no matter how long it takes.

 **DISCLAIMER:** I do not own Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun or any of its characters. Izumi Tsubaki does. :D

* * *

"W-what is going on..?"

Suffice to say, Chiyo Sakura was shocked.

She stood transfixed by the doorway, her mouth hanging open and her eyes blank circles of disbelief. A million thoughts ran through her head as she remained rooted to her spot.

One, Hori-senpai actually looked really appealing, what with the somewhat feral expression on his face.

Two, Mikorin looked as if someone had dropped a bucket of red paint on _his_ face and had refused to wipe it off.

Three, the two teens were on the floor, engaged in some sort of intimate act (or so that was what Sakura thought. Hori _was_ hovering above Mikoshiba for all it's worth).

Four to a million actually just revolved around the statement 'Mikorin's cheating with Hori-senpai?!'. A statement which Sakura actually blurted out.

"M-MIKORIN'S CHEATING WITH HORI-SENPAI?!" The orange-haired young female squealed as she trembled in her place. One of the accused, Masayuki Hori, calmly stood up from his position, his eyes locked on Sakura's.

"We're not doing any of the sort. Whose house do you think this is?" Hori explained as he pointed a thumb back at Nozaki, who was busy sketching on his pad. The said black-haired young man raised his eyes to Sakura and moved his head, acknowledging her presence, before returning to his job. Mikorin, on the other hand, was spluttering on the floor.

"Ch-cheating?! Don't tell me you still think I have a boyfriend?!" Mikoshiba yelled as he bolted to his feet. A year had already passed and Sakura still had _that_ idea in her head?!

Hori turned his attention toward the other male, his mind trying to process Sakura's reaction and Mikoshiba's defense. Why would Sakura think that Mikoshiba was cheating? Mikoshiba did tell him a couple days back that he had no girlfriend at the moment, and Sakura was definitely not into the guy as far as he knew. So why that reaction? What was making Sakura think Mikoshiba had a relationsip with some-

 _Wait..._

"Oh!" Hori said as he hit the palm of his left hand with his fisted right one. Mikoto was Mamiko. Of course, if you looked at it _that_ way, Mikoto was indeed cheating, and he was doing it with him, Hori. Now that made perfect sense.

"Mami-koshiba, I think I understand now." Hori said at length.

"Y-you do, Hori-senpai?" The red-haired teen turned teary eyes toward their senpai. Finally! Finally, Hori was going to clear that idea out of Sakura's-

"You ARE cheating." The brown-haired young man deadpanned, his eyes sparkling with understanding. Mikoshiba's eyes, on the other hand, unleashed a myriad of tears.

"CAN YOU AT LEAST SAY THAT WITHOUT LOOKING SO HAPPY?!"

* * *

When all had been settled (and forgotten. Mikoshiba just gave up on trying to make Hori-senpai and Sakura understand him. Indeed, he just gave up on trying to understand them.), Nozaki-who had been silent the whole time the other three were debating Mikoshiba's love life-finally spoke up.

"Guys, I got some free tickets to some onsen. Lodging, food and other services are free for us to use for five days." He informed them. Sakura's grin split her face in half as she beamed at the mangaka.

"Five days? Free?! Nozaki-kun, let's go, let's go! This is a chance we shouldn't pass on!" The female exclaimed. But the looks on Mikoshiba's and Hori's faces made Sakura stop in her gleeful clapping. Instead of being happy, they were staring hard at the mangaka. Really hard...

"Nozaki, are you planning on using this trip as reference for your manga?" Hori asked. Nozaki nodded fervently-before he began shaking his head.

"No. I'd just like to have a get-together of sorts, if that's okay with you guys." He said. Mikoshiba was eyeing him warily, not sure if he was going to trust him on that.

"You sure you're not up to something..?" The redhead asked. The young man moved his head once more in response.

"As proof, I shall leave my sketchpad and other drawing tools here."

"...Nozaki, you have your memo pad and a pen in your hands." Hori pointed out.

"Just in case we need to buy food and supplies. It's better to have something we can use for writing down lists."

"Nozaki..."

"Yes, Mikoshiba?"

"Can you say that without that stupid grin on your face?"

"Just in case we need to buy food and supplies. It's better to have something we can use for writing down lists." Nozaki repeated. Mikorin actually threw his drawing tools at the mangaka.

"YOU BASTARD! QUIT GRINNING, THEN!"

"Uhm..." Sakura finally spoke up after watching the exchange between the three. The said young men all looked at her. Hori and Mikoshiba both had a 'please back us up' look in their eyes, while Nozaki still had a really, really big smile plastered all over his face. The female sighed.

"Guys, I don't think it'll hurt if Nozaki-kun wants to get some ideas from this trip. I mean, I'm sure there are other people at the onsen once we get there, right? Nozaki inviting us doesn't necessarily mean he's going to use US as reference. So don't worry too much about it!" She beamed. This line of thought seemed to have some calming effect on the redhead and their senpai, for they both just sighed in agreement. Sakura did have a point, after all.

"Though, Nozaki-kun..." Sakura followed up after her explanation.

"Yes, Sakura?"

"Stop writing on your memo pad. You're not helping."

"...Sorry..."

* * *

By the end of the day, it was decided that they would leave for the onsen on Thursday night, since they didn't have classes the coming Friday (some town-wide event was going to happen, and schools were going to be closed because of it). They also had no classes on Monday and Tuesday (they actually forgot why they didn't have one), which would allow them to maximize their trip. It was also decided that the following people would be included in the trip: Hirotaka Wakamatsu (since he, too, was one of Nozaki's trusted assistants, and not to mention he was also their friend), Yuzuki Seo (since she was Sakura and Kashima's friend, and Waka would probably ask about her anyway), and Kashima Yuu (Hori's orders). Basically, it's the entire gang.

"Alright! I'll inform Kashima-kun and Yuzuki about our plan for this weekend." Sakura said, her tone bright and quite ecstatic. The three guys nodded in answer.

"And we'll be able to tell Wakamatsu about it later. He'll just be late tonight, he told me." Nozaki said. Just then, his phone sounded, announcing the arrival of a text message. The mangaka reached for the device and flipped it open, his eyes scanning the now opened message.

"Change of plans. I'm just going to call Wakamatsu later." He said in his usual monotone, which earned the curious stares of the other three people in the room.

"Why? What happened to Wakamatsu?" Hori asked.

"Did something bad happen to him?"

"Yes. Apparently, Seo had thrown a ball at him, and it was more forceful than usual. He said it was so painful, he couldn't manage to walk. Pretty uncomfortable place to be hit for a guy, actually." He said. Mikoshiba and Hori exchanged horrified looks, while Sakura's jaw had actually fallen on to the floor.

 _'Oh, no. Had Seo targeted him there? Of all places?!'_ Mikoshiba mused.

 _'Ah, poor Wakamatsu. I do hope he'll be okay. That's gonna hurt for a while.'_ Hori thought with a shudder.

"No-nozaki-kun, will Wakamatsu recover? I mean, that's gotta hurt if she hit him..hit him.. _there_." She rasped, unable to bring herself to say the exact word in her mind. Nozaki nodded, totally oblivious to the expressions his friends were making.

"I agree. After all, getting hit in the stomach after you've just eaten a full meal really isn't that comfortable for a guy, right? He mentioned he even threw up on the court." The mangaka said, his eyes now back on his sketchpad. The other three students' faces donned shocked expressions upon hearing that, though. Their minds all cried out the same thing.

 _'IT WAS HIS STOMACH?!'_

And so, the night wrapped up with them formalizing their plans, and praying for Wakamatsu's speedy recovery.


	2. Recalling a Moment from the Past

**A/N:** Hori-chan-senpai's already graduated senior high. Wakamatsu's in his second year, while the rest are in their third year.

 **DISCLAIMER:** I do not own Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun or any of its characters. Izumi Tsubaki does. :D

* * *

"So what are you planning on doing tomorrow, Chiyo-chan?" Kashima asked as she, Sakura and Seo settled down in their seats. The four boys were seated across them. The seats were the type that could be flipped, so one could be moved and made to face the one behind it (which was what Mikoshiba did, reason why he could face the other three males).

"Uhm, I don't know. Maybe..." Sakura thought for a while, wondering what course of action to take for tomorrow. Hmm...

 _'Maybe I could wake up early and go to the baths before anyone else.'_ She thought. her facial expression all calm and serene.

 _'Oh, oh! And then maybe I could take my time in the bath!'_ She happily exclaimed in her head, her face showing the excitement she was feeling.

 _'Wait...but then I might get a headache.'_ She suddenly realized, her expression now horrified and shocked.

"Ch-chiyo-chan, what are you thinking, exactly?" Kashima asked, unsure about why Sakura's expression toook the turn to the worst. Yuzuki, on the other hand, had begun eating Pokky sticks.

"What else are we gonna do there aside from taking baths and playing games? Oh!" The brown-haired young woman suddenly sat bolt upright as an idea occurred to her.

"We can go peep at the guys while they're taking a bath!" To which the four males in the other booth reacted with utter shock.

"Yuzuki...they're across us, you know." Sakura pointed out, a drop of sweat forming on her head as Yuzuki blinked and stared at the other four.

"Ahh! Now you know our plan, darn it!" She said dejectedly as she slumped in her seat. The other people all thought the same thing.

 _'THAT WAS YOUR CONCERN?!'_

* * *

"Hmmm...what _are_ we going to _do_?" Hirotaka Wakamatsu asked the other boys after Seo had calmed down. Hori folded his arms in front of him, his head bowed low in thought.

"Well, Nozaki did say that there were TVs available in the rooms, so I guess for later we could just watch a movie or two. Just to relax ourselves a bit." Hori suggested.

"We'll plan our next activities tomorrow or something." Wakamatsu hummed in agreement. Mikoshiba, on the other hand, was busy looking at Nozaki.

"Oi, Nozaki, what are you writing down on your memo pad?" The redhead asked. The mangaka raised his eyes to meet Mikorin's.

"Just listing down the movies that we could watch." He answered. Mikoshiba was not convinced, and so he asked Wakamatsu to take a peek at the memo pad. Nozaki did not object as the youngest male glanced at what he was writing.

"Oh, look. Nozaki-senpai already has a couple listed down. Wait..." At Wakamatsu's pause, both Hori and Mikoshiba stiffened. Did Nozaki already write down manga ideas this early?!

"How come a lot of them are horror movies?! Nozaki-senpai, can you change at least some of them?!" Wakamatsu pleaded, making the other two males relax.

"Sorry, Wakamatsu. I accidentally brought a lot of horror movies. Just bear with it for a while." The black-haired young man said, to Wakamatsu's defeated whimpering.

* * *

The trip to the onsen was around four hours. By the time the second hour rolled in, the four boys had fallen asleep (Wakamatsu was listening to a Lorelei song), while the three females were awake and chatting still.

"Ha, come to think of it, we've been stuck together for more than a year now, haven't we?" Yuzuki suddenly said, her eyes lingering on Wakamatsu. Kashima nodded her head happily in agreement.

"Yeah! Even if Hori-chan-senpai's graduated, he still visits us every now and then." The blue-haired female mentioned, not to the surprise of the other two. Sakura, on the other hand, fondly looked over at Nozaki, whose head was lolling off to his right.

"A year, huh..." She murmured, recalling what had transpired in their group, especially between her and Nozaki.

* * *

"I really like you, Nozaki-kun." She murmured as the last of the first set of fireworks went up in the sky. Nozaki looked at her with serious and solemn eyes, making her heart thump loudly against her chest.

 _'D-did he hear me?'_ She thought, her face going bright red as Nozaki responded to her.

"W-what did you say?" Sakura asked, as she was not able to understand a word he had said. Nozaki then leaned down, his lips close to her ear.

"I said, I also like them. The fireworks..." He repeated for her. Sakura's face by then was a shade darker than any red anybody had seen. One chuckle, two...nervous yet genuine laughter erupted from the orange-haired female as the mangaka's words finally sunk in.

 _'I thought...I thought for sure...'_ She mused in her head as her laughs died down.

 _'Ah, well...I guess I have another year of trying...'_

But for the first few months of their third year, even though Sakura had done her best to express her love for the mangaka, everything turned out to be all in vain. Nozaki remained as dense as ever, and his actions...though they were sweet sometimes, almost ended up as quite normal for him. No romantic inclination whatsoever. Sakura said she would not give up, but the more time she spent with him, the more she realized that he did not see her as someone beyond a friend. And when she had the courage to ask him about this, all he said was:

 ** _"Well, aside from being a friend, you are one really amazing assistant. So yes, thank you for all the hard work."_**

Which effectively shattered her heart in the process. She had hoped that, after everything they had been through, Nozaki would at least catch on to her feelings. Apparently, that was not the case. The following days were spent on wallowing in depression (though she did not show this to her friends), and thinking about where she had failed. Was she not attractive enough? Was she not his type of girl? As she mulled over the multiple questions in her head, she arrived at one obvious conclusion: he really did see her as just a friend. Possibly someone who was convenient for him (she was not getting paid after all, for her inking job).

She had cried over this, but she could not tell Yuzuki about her predicament (she had a feeling that she might accidentally do or say something that would embarrass her to no end). She also couldn't approach Kashima on this one, thinking that it might reach Hori's ears and somehow would reach Nozaki's. Wakamatsu was definitely out of the question (poor guy still had to deal with Seo troubles, after all). And so she turned to the last person she could ever think of when it came to such matters.

Mikorin.

"Ah, well...he really can be an idiot sometimes." Mikoshiba had said when they met up at some park to discuss the matter. Well, actually for Sakura to vent out he frustrations, more like.

"But...but Mikorin, I've done everything to get his attention! Nothing worked!" Sakura sobbed, to which Mikoshiba responded in a bit of a murmur.

"Well...yeah, couldn't disagree with you on that. The way you showed your love for him was kinda too much, you know." He pointed out. Sakura had to calm herself down a bit so that she could look at him better.

"W-what do you mean by that?"

"For starters, you happily chant his name every now and then." Mikoshiba said as he stood up from the swing, impersonating Sakura on what he had just said.

"Nozaki-kun, Nozaki-kun! I wonder what we'll do today!" The redhead had said as he walked in front of Sakura, his hands placed on imaginary bag straps. His face was a picture of perfect bliss. Sakura blinked. Was she like that to others? Though the way Mikoshiba had mimicked her did manage to make her smile a bit.

"And you always do something about items that Nozaki had used! Or even touched!" Mikorin continued.

"Oh, oh! This is the pencil he used for sketching today! I'll have to save this one! Oh, oh! Here's that piece of paper where he wrote my name with the cute little heart!" Sakura had to clutch at her stomach to prevent her giggles from erupting. Mikoshiba was a bad actor, but the way he impersonated her was kind of spot on.

"But the way you slam some of his ideas is the best." Mikoshiba said with a serious tone and a nod.

"Nozaki-kun, I don't think having Suzuki-kun being abducted by an alien would justify Mamiko's heroic act." Mikoshiba said with a dead serious face. Sakura had to clasp a hand over her mouth now.

"Nozaki-kun, why did you place a tanuki on this page? WHY?!" Now the redhead's face donned a horrified look. Sakura now had two hands over her mouth.

"WAHH! NOZAKI-KUN! DON'T LET SUZUKI-KUN BE EATEN BY A GIANT TANUKI!" This time Mikoshiba had a mixture of distress, shock and horror on his face, his arms flailing this way and that as he recalled that moment he had seen between Sakura and Nozaki. The orange-haired female was now beyond the point of no return. First it was a chuckle, then it turned into a fit of giggles and now a string of genuine laughter was coming from the female.

"M-mikorin...t-that's enough...you're...you're bad at acting..." Sakura rasped out, her sentence punctuated with laughter. Mikoshiba grinned, though there was a tint of red on his cheeks.

"W-well, I was just doing what I always saw you doing! Anyway!" He coughed, sitting back down on the swing.

"Don't be too crushed about it! Maybe someday, Nozaki would finally get hit by all those feelings you have for him. That, or he's gonna get killed by them. I dunno. You do show so much..." Mikoshiba pondered. Was it possible to get squished by a flood of affection? Probably could happen if Sakura was involved. Sakura, on the other hand, shook her head as she wiped away the tears that had formed in her eyes.

"I don't know, Mikorin. He's already told me that I'm one of his precious friends and assistants, so yes. I think my feelings won't be able to reach him no matter what." She said, though now it was not as painful as the first time she had thought about it. Being able to talk to someone about it somehow did lessen the pain, even if a little.

"Nozaki really is an idiot, though." Mikoshiba murmured as he folded his arms in front of him. Sakura gave him a questioning look.

"You're always by his side. Always there to help him and cheer him on. Give him advice and all that jazz. You're a really kind and sweet girl, if truth be told. If I had been him I'd have..." At this point Mikoshiba stopped himself, realizing what he was about to say. His face burned red as he quickly looked at Sakura, whose own face was a bit crimson from his compliments.

"I...uhm...I..!" Mikoshiba yelped, his hands waving frantically in front of him. What was he about to say, darn it! Sakura, on the other hand, was as embarrassed as him. Probably because she was not expecting him to say those words.

"Uhm...r-right! T-thank you for the time, M-mikorin! I'm sorry I bothered you! I...I'm gonna go home now!" And before Mikoshiba could say another word, Sakura had already dashed out of the park.

* * *

"Oi, Chiyo, what are you thinking about? Your face is all red." Yuzuki pointed out as she poked Sakura's cheek. The said female's eyes widened in surprise as she had just realized that her thoughts had wandered off.

"I...uhm...!" Sakura was a loss for words. What was she supposed to say? That she had remembered that one moment where Mikoshiba had managed to make herself feel better? That moment when the idea of Mikoshiba noticing her more than Nozaki ever had or could came bounding inside her head?

"Were you thinking of the guys while they're bathing?" Kashima asked innocently, as if thinking about their male friends in the bath was quite normal. Apparently, she had been doing that herself a while ago. Mostly just thinking about Hori-senpai, though. She was wondering if her senpai's head would disappear under water if he sat down in the spring.

"W-wait, what? NO! I wasn't thinking about that!" Sakura choked out her reply. At this, the other boys woke up, their sleepy stares focused on the girls.

"What happened?" Nozaki asked, his eyes locked on Sakura's red face. Had she gotten sick all of a sudden?

"Nothing. Chiyo here was just imagining you guys naked." Yuzuki said with a poker face. Sakura actually hit her on the head with her bag.

"YUZUKI!"

Four hours and a bleeding Yuzuki later, the gang finally arrived at the onsen.


End file.
